Buttons [Paperback]

Brock Cole (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up

Brock Cole's first picture book in nearly ten years

Once there was an old man who ate so much his britches burst and his buttons popped one, two, three, into the fire. "Wife! Wife!" he cried. "We are undone! My britches have burst and my buttons are burnt, every one!

After putting her husband to bed, the wife enlists the aid of her three daughters in replacing their father's buttons. The eldest promises to find a rich man who will give her buttons in exchange for her hand in marriage. The second daughter decides to join the army for the sake of the buttons on a soldier's uniform. And the youngest is going to run through the meadows with her apron held out before her, hoping to catch a few buttons falling from the sky. Which of these young ladies will succeed in restoring the family fortunes? The answer is the essential and satisfying stuff of fairy tales. Brock Cole's whimsical prose and pictures make this original story feel like a hundred-year-old classic.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Buttons, buttons, who's got the buttons? When an old man eats so much he bursts his britches and loses all his buttons, it's up to his three daughters to find new ones for their silly, helpless father. The eldest daughter offers to dress in her finest clothes and make a rich man fall in love with her, at which point she will demand buttons. The second daughter plans to dress as a boy and join the army. Her uniform will have plenty of buttons to spare. The youngest daughter, who is "young and rabbity and still picked her nose when she thought no one was looking" decides to run in the meadow, holding out her apron so that if any buttons fall from the sky, she can catch them. The race for buttons is on, and readers will be as delighted as the unfastened father at the results.

In spite of the hint of naughtiness in this fable--daughter number two spends a snug night in a hayloft with a young wounded soldier--the antics throughout are innocently preposterous enough to pose no threat to the sanctity of youth. Tremendously clever and delightfully understated, Brock Cole's original fairy tale and whimsical watercolors have the feel of an ancient classic, complete with happily-ever-after-ending. (Ages 5 to 9) --Emilie Coulter --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

A series of farcical mishaps steadily ups the comedy in Cole's (Alpha and the Dirty Baby) brightly polished romp. After their portly father eats so much that his britches burst and his buttons fly into the fire, three daughters concoct plans to find replacements. Setting off to snare a man who will fall in love with her and give her his buttons, the eldest encounters a "band of ruffians" who tip her over the balustrade of a bridge. She ends up marrying the handsome bargee who rescues her and realizes only much later that she has forgotten to ask for even one button ("She decided she would send her father a postcard instead"). The second girl disguises herself as a man and joins the army, intending to give her father the gold buttons from her new uniform. But her regiment is whisked off to battle, and when a brave young ensign is wounded, she tears off her jacket to make bandages ("Many buttons were lost and destroyed in the process, but who could think of buttons at a time like this?"). It falls to the youngest daughter to save the day, although her plan is the most harebrained of them all. Busy, hyperbolic pictures limn an appealing old-world setting. In his words and pictures, Cole treats the ridiculous characters with affection, not mockery, inviting readers into the story to laugh right along with them. Ages 5-up. (Mar.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) (March 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374410135
• ISBN-13: 978-0374410131
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 9.2 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,979,949 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thank heavens he's back!, April 29, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Buttons (Hardcover)

Brock Cole began his career as author and illustrator of a number of lovely, marginally goofy picture books, illuminated with his own careful, exuberant watercolors. Mr. Cole took a break from picture book publishing to concentrate on chapter books for older kids (not that we mind - all 3 of his novels are themselves extraordinary achievements) but has returned with _Buttons_, his first picture book for more than a decade. This _Buttons_ is a particularly fetching send up of the fairy tale genre, replete with nobles, simpletons, paupers and princes, and blessedly full of Mr. Cole's sweet, ironic sensibilities. Let us hope that with his paintbrush freshly wetted Brock Cole will again decorate our bookshelves with a succession of similar charmers.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great for older children, September 23, 2000

By 

"mollycc" (Colorado, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Buttons (Hardcover)

This original fairy tale reads like a classic. The story is funny, and the illustrations support this humourous tone. There is plenty of detail in the pictures for older children to pore over. I would recommend this for 1st graders and up.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Old Fashioned Fairy Tale, June 2, 2000

By 

Roz Levine - See all my reviews

This review is from: Buttons (Hardcover)

Brock Cole's, Buttons, begins...Once upon a time and after a very silly, funny, satisfying story, has a happily ever after, ending. Buttons will delight children of every age, as three daughters are sent out into the world, by their mother, to find new buttons for their father's trousers. Mr. Cole's beautiful water color illustrations add just the right old fashioned touch to this story. The perfect bedtime story for your little ones. Read and enjoy!